COVID-19, Election Are Among Topics to be Discussed at Economic Forecast Update Jim Doti and other Chapman expert forecasters will present at the virtual event June 23. Admission is complimentary.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on local, regional and national economies will be the key topic at Chapman University’s Economic Forecast Update to be held on a virtual platform Tuesday, June 23, at 3 p.m. To serve business and community leaders facing important decisions in these challenging times, for the first time the university is offering complimentary admission.

“We know all our community leaders are working hard to forge a path to recovery. Chapman can help them succeed in that changing environment by offering the best possible economic insights,” said Chapman economist and President Emeritus Jim Doti. “Disseminating critical and useful research findings has always been a goal of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research.”

For decades, the esteemed Economic Forecast presented annually in December has provided unrivaled insights into the economies of Orange County, California and the U.S. for decades. The Forecast Updates follow each June.

In combination, the reports are highly respected for their accuracy. From 2004 to 2016, Chapman’s real GDP forecasts were more accurate than the forecasts issued by all 26 agencies participating in the Blue Chip Economic Indicators surveys. Over the most recent 10-year period, from 2007 through 2016, Chapman’s real GDP forecast accuracy ranked 2nd when compared with the Blue Chip forecasters. The Chapman Forecast Model outperformed the highly regarded Blue Chip Consensus forecast in both rankings.

In addition to Doti’s update report, the June 23 event will include presentations by additional Chapman experts addressing regional and state trends as well as the stock market.

Additional Forecast Update presenters will include:

• Professor Raymond Sfeir, Ph.D., director of the A. Gary Anderson Center for Economic Research in the Argyros School of Business and Economics. Sfeir has served as a research fellow in the Anderson Center since 1988, as director of the Orange County Purchasing Managers Survey since 1988, and as director of the California Purchasing Managers survey from 2002 to the present.
• Professor Fadel Lawandy has more than 16 years of experience in the financial industry with extensive expertise in banking, credit management, commercial/residential real estate acquisition and financing, business lending, mergers and acquisitions, quantitative and qualitative analysis and research, and portfolio management. He retired as a guided portfolio manager from Morgan Stanley Smith Barney to join Hunter Wise Financial Group, LLC.

This year’s Forecast Update is made possible by generous support from Mechanics Bank, Edwards Lifesciences LLC, Kaiser Permanente, CEO Leadership Alliance of OC (CLA-OC), C&L Refrigeration, SchoolsFirst Federal Credit Union, City of Hope OC, First American Financial Corporation, The Morissette Family, Whittier Trust Wealth Management, California Scottish Rite Foundation, Wells Fargo, Yassai Properties, Los Angeles Business Journal, San Diego Business Journal, Orange County Business Journal and The Orange County Register.